Record dry start to 2018
Ben Domensino,
Wednesday June 27, 2018 - 10:48 AEST
Some parts of eastern Australia have just endured their driest start to a year on record.
While many farmers in NSW and Queensland are enjoying the smell of rain this week, it's been a long time between drinks.
There has been a remarkable lack of rain-bearing systems across NSW and southern Queensland during the last several months.
As of 9am on Wednesday June 27th, Tamworth had only received 83.6mm of rain so far during 2018, making this its driest start to a year on record. Rainfall observations for Tamworth are available back to the late 1800's.
Further west, Broken Hill's year-to-date total of 18.2mm as of 9am on Wednesday is the lowest to this point in the year in more than 120 years of records.
Dubbo's running annual total as of Wednesday morning was 62.6mm, which is its second lowest to this point in the year on record, trumped only by 59.5mm in 1965.
Some areas near Sydney are also having their driest start to a year since 1965, including Picton, which has only registered 159.6mm so far this year as of Wednesday morning.
In Queensland, Thargomindah is also having its driest start to a year since 1965, with only 33.1mm of rain reaching the gauge up of 9am on Wednesday. This includes 8mm that fell on Wednesday morning.
While this week's rain is welcome, it won't make up for the long-term deficits that have amassed across large areas of NSW and southern Queensland during the last 14 months.
- Weatherzone
© Weatherzone
2018